Tag: maldives

Maldives remains on US State Department’s human trafficking watch list for second year

The Maldives remains on the US State Department’s Tier 2 Watch List for human trafficking, a list signifying an increasing number of victims and little evidence of increased efforts to tackle the problem.

The report comes days after the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) was called to temporarily take over the front line work of the Immigration Department and Human Resources Ministry pending an investigation into corruption and falsification of work permits.

Migrant workers from Bangladesh and to a lesser extent, India, are being subjected to forced labour in the Maldives, primarily in the construction and service sectors, while women and girls are also being subjected to sex trafficking, the report said.

An unknown number of the up to 110,000 foreign workers in the country – a third of the population – “face conditions indicative of forced labor: fraudulent recruitment practices, confiscation of identity and travel documents, withholding or nonpayment of wages, or debt bondage,” the report noted, adding that 30,000 workers had no legal status in the country.

Bangladeshi nationals were especially vulnerable to labour trafficking, the report stated, citing “diplomatic sources” as claiming that half the Bangladeshi workers in the country had arrived illegally, having paid between US$1000 and US$4000 in ‘recruitment fees’.

“In addition to Bangladeshis and Indians, some migrants from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal reportedly experienced recruitment fraud before arriving in the Maldives,” the report noted.

“Trafficking offenders in the Maldives usually fall into three groups: families that subject domestic servants to forced labor; employment agents who bring low-skilled migrant workers to the Maldives under false terms of employment and upon payment of high fees for purposes of forced labor; and employers who subject the migrants to conditions of forced labor upon arrival,” the report revealed.

The State Department reiterated claims from the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) that female migrant workers were also being trapped by employers who were using threats and intimidation to prevent them from leaving.

More commonly, “Recruitment agents collude with employers and agents in the Maldives to facilitate fraudulent recruitment and forced labor of migrant workers.”

Domestic trafficking was also observed, whereby “some underage Maldivian children are transported to Male’ from other islands for forced domestic service, and a small number sexually abused by the families with whom they stayed. This is a corruption of the widely acknowledged practice where families send Maldivian children to live with a host family in Male for educational purposes.”

The US State Department’s report was critical of the Maldives for human trafficking enforcement in the country over the reporting period, and noted that it had not investigated or prosecuted any trafficking-related offences despite the scale of the problem.

“The government did not investigate or prosecute any labor trafficking cases, but is reportedly investigating two child prostitution cases,” it noted.

It was especially critical of the government’s treatment of those found to be victims of trafficking: “The Maldivian government did not ensure that victims of trafficking received access to necessary assistance during the reporting period. The government did not develop or implement formal procedures for proactively identifying victims, and did not identify any specific cases of trafficking. The Maldives did not provide access to services such as shelter, counseling, medical care, or legal aid to foreign or Maldivian victims of trafficking. The government did not conduct any anti-trafficking or educational campaigns, nor did it take any measures to reduce demand for forced labor within the country.”

The report noted that the Maldives’ general policy for dealing with trafficking victims “was to deport them.”

“Authorities did not encourage victims to participate in the investigation or prosecution of trafficking offenders. Due to a lack of comprehensive victim identification procedures, the Maldives may not have ensured that expatriates subjected to forced labor and prostitution were not inappropriately incarcerated, fined, or otherwise penalised for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.”

The report also observed that while the Maldivian Constitution outlawed forced labour and slavery, a person legally married to a minor was exempt from the heavy penalties of the Child Sexual Abuse Act passed in 2009, and that “none of the offences specified in the legislation, including child prostitution, would be considered a crime.”

Positives

The report did highlight the ratification by cabinet by a Human Trafficking Plan in February 2011, but observed that this had no law enforcement component, and failed to distinguish people smuggling from trafficking.

Furthermore, a blacklist of 16 employment agencies and private companies by the Labour Relations Authority (LRA) showed no sign of being enforce.

A “rapid assessment” on human trafficking commissioned by HRCM in 2010 had not been finalised, the State Department report observed.

The report urged the government to develop procedures whereby government officials could identify victims of trafficking, and provide them with access to services for victims – particularly translators. It also urged greater efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offences.

The final recommendation was “take steps to ensure that employers and labor brokers are not abusing labor recruitment or sponsorship processes in order to subject migrant workers to forced labor” – one that appears to have been preempted by this week’s corruption probe of Immigration Department and Human Resources Ministry.

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Military mans immigration during departmental and ministerial corruption probe

Immigration Controller Abdulla Shahid has confirmed that corruption of the work permit system is a major focus of an ongoing investigation into the Immigration Department and Human Resources Ministry.

Front-line staff at both immigration and the area of the ministry handling employment have been sent home, and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has taken over their duties.

President Mohamed Nasheed has said the police investigation – which has already resulted in several arrests of suspected traffickers – is expected to take two weeks. Afterwards, staff will be invited to return to work, the President’s Office said in a statement.

Shahid told Minivan News today that people had been found to be attempting to enter the country with falsified permits.

“We believe we have 40,000 illegal immigrants, and we know two departments are involved: Immigration and the Human Resources Ministry,” he said.

“Something has gone wrong in one of these departments, and we are going to find out what it is.”

The Immigration Department’s records for expatriates working in the country show 21,000 people unaccounted for in records held by the Human Resources Ministry, he said, a discrepancy representing six percent of the country’s entire population.

Shahid acknowledged that the relationship between the Human Resources Ministry and the Immigration Department prior to the MNDF’s intervention had been “strained”, and that there was no shared IT system linking the records of both.

“We know there are a lot of loopholes and minor things that have been overlooked,” he said. “For example, 10 days ago an immigration officer was arrested after collecting a deposit which disappeared from the system the next day.”

Shahid said he expected the police investigation would discover “a lot of things.” A report will be presented to the President on conclusion of the two weeks.

The investigation, he said, was a very time-consuming task “involving a lot of data.” In the mean time, he acknowledged there had been some delays at the airport and “hiccups” as the MNDF took over immigration duties.

“We did some orientation for them, but this is not a permanent situation,” he emphasised.

Shahid dismissed the idea that tourists arriving at the airport would be intimidated by the sight of the military.

“They work uniforms of the MNDF are very similar to the immigration uniforms,” he said.

Nexbis upgrade

The government last year signed a contract with mobile security technology vendor Nexbis whereby the immigration system would be upgraded to include biometric identification of work visa applicants, reducing the reliance on potentially-forged documentation.

The upgrade was stalled when the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) expressed concerns about the deal. Cabinet has since requested the Immigration Department review the project, and if necessary, renegotiate.

“We will enter negotiations soon – we can’t agree with the figures [in the contract],” Shahid said. “The ACC has from the very beginning said it is wrong.”

“The contract says we will charge arriving and departing passengers US$2 – this year we expect a million foreigners, so that is US$4 million. Then for every work permit card we issue we pay Nexbis US$15 – currently we charge Rf50 (US$4). At present rates of arrival that US$5.5 million per year.

“The Nexbis contract is a 20 year contract – which means the total cost to the country at present-day arrivals is US$110 million. If you calculate the increased percentage of arrivals over the 20 years, it’s more like US$200 million.”

Such a deal was, Shahid said, “The worst possible thing we could do to border control. Sri Lanka’s system cost US$2.2 million to install and develop. We could get a luxury system [installed] for US$4 million. Why should the Maldivian government spend US$200 million over 20 years, when it’s highly unusual for an IT contract to last more than five? I will never agree to this – the contract should never have been signed.”

The ACC had “a lot of grounds” to investigate the deal, he suggested, adding that as the project involved imposing a tax, approval was also required from parliament prior to signing.

Nexbis shares fell 6.3 percent on the back of the ACC’s original announcement. The company subsequently issued a statement claiming that speculation over corruption was “politically motivated” and had “wrought irreparable damage to Nexbis’ reputation and brand name”, and revealed its intention to take legal action.

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Letter on lack of child care facilities

I totally agree on the importance of women’s contribution to our economy and our job market.

So, let me share my experience. I have noticed that the practiced rules and procedures for employees do not encourage women to work.

If one looks at a working woman who requires no-pay leave for a short intensive course, leaving behind her young child with an expatriate baby-sitter, it’s not a difficult thing. But if a woman requests no-pay leave due to a problem with her child – for instance, if it is suffering from being severely underweight and no one is available at home to take care of the child, she has no choice other than to resign from her job. This means the existing rules and procedures for employees are encouraging the importing of a baby-sitter for each and every woman working in this country.

I think this is a serious issue that has to be addressed without any delay. Why has a concept like day care centres not been set up? I have noticed there is a Hulhumale’ ferry service for those living in Hulhumale’ to go to Male’ for their work. Also there is now a bus service between Hulhumale’ jetty and various locations of Hulhumale’.

I take interest in the issues, hidden and untold, and I thought I would try to bring this important issue to all concerned to comment on.

Regards

Mohamed Saeed

All letters are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write a letter, please submit it to [email protected]

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Health authorities focus on mosquito controls as hospital confirms infant dengue fatality

Male’s Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) has confirmed that a nine-month old child died today from dengue fever as health officials look to combat further spread of the virus through attempts to control mosquito numbers.

Hospital spokesperson Zeenath Ali confirmed that the child was pronounced dead at 12:27am after being admitted with suspected dengue fever two days earlier.  Ali added that she was unable to give any further details of the specific strain of the virus that the child was thought to have suffered from or any additional details about the death without the consent of the infant’s family.

According to figures supplied by the Male’ Health Services Corporation Limited, a total of 59 people have been admitted to hospital between June 1 and June 20 this year suffering from the virus. Of these cases, six were admitted on suspicion of catching dengue fever, 50 were hospitalised with the dengue hemorrhagic variant of the virus and three others were diagnosed with dengue shock syndrome – where blood pressure drops so low that organs cannot function properly. Over the same period, 25 people were diagnosed by the hospital of having dengue fever and were treated as outpatients.

Early symptoms of virus are said to include fever, joint paint and a distinctive rash and headache, although it can be difficult to distinguish from the milder Chikungunya disease which can last for up to five days. However, even healthy adults can be left immobile by dengue for several weeks while the disease runs its course.

More than 300 cases of dengue fever in the Maldives were reported during the first two months of 2011, compared with 737 cases and two fatalities reported over the course of last year. While many of these cases were reported in Male’, most of the fatalities have been islanders, with the more serious cases thought to have disproportionately affected children.

Amidst these concerns, health authorities in the country have claimed that they are committed to a programme of working to control mosquito populations to try and combat the spread of the virus, particularly in island areas.

Geela Ali, Permanent Secretary for the Health Ministry, told Minivan News that while officials had not received any official reports of recent fatalities linked to dengue as of yesterday, there was concern in the ministry about outbreaks of the virus across the country of late.

Ali claimed that under present government health strategies, clinicians were being put at the forefront of efforts to try and provide local people with the best means to prevent potential infection of the virus, particularly in its more prominent forms like the type 1 strain.

“The main challenge is working with clinicians to pass on case management strategies to local clinics,” she said. “One of things we are trying to do is control [mosquito populations] and we are consulting with local councils and even the media in trying to do this.”

According to Ali, the hones for trying to combat dengue in the country remained on encouraging the public to locate and destroy mosquito breeding areas as to reduce incidences of the virus as effectively as possible.

While accepting that additional chemical spraying around various islands was one possibility being considered by the government  to stem the problem, she added this was strictly to be used only after clean ups of breeding grounds particularly on private property had taken place to ensure long-term effectiveness.

Earlier this year, the Centre for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC) and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) conducted spraying of mosquito breeding sites in Male’ and the surrounding islands, but reported difficulty obtaining access to residential and construction sites.

Virus management

Back in April, Minivan News reported that health experts believed fears over a growing number of dengue fatalities was potentially related to lapses in managing the disease, particularly due to the high turnover of foreign doctors on islands.

Dr Ahmed Jamsheed, a former head of the CCHDC, observed that January and February 2011 had seen higher instances of suspected dengue shock syndrome occurring in the country.

“Our initial theory was that this was a new strain of dengue,” he said. “There are four different strains, and strains one and three have been most prevalent. We took samples and sent them abroad but I had left the office by the time the results came back. I’m told out of the samples we sent a few tested positive for dengue one, which means no new strain.”

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Climate change and “practical” development among talking points as Gayoom visits Bangladesh

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has called on members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to be more realistic in their aims for collaborative development during a visit to Bangladesh this week.

Gayoom, who was invited to the country by the University of Science and Technology of Chittagong (USTC) to attend a convocation scheduled for tomorrow (June 29), was reported to have asked SAARC leaders to be “practical” and outline more achievable developments in the region, according to the local Daily Star newspaper.

While unaware of the exact purpose of Gayoom’s visit, which has included meeting Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, parliamentary supporters of the former president claimed that the apparent statesman-like nature of his comments did not signify a return to active politics beyond attempts to try and settle divides within the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) that he helped found.

Outside of the domestic political sphere, the 73-year old former head of state has this week been speaking to local media about his own concerns on the importance of addressing issues like climate change and higher education, along with outlining what he perceives as the main challenges facing SAARC nations.

Gayoom said he believed that technical limitations and issues of resources had set SAARC members back in the “very high goals” set by each nation, though he said he believed the organisation had not failed in its plans and had great potential – particularly from regional enterprise.

“There must be more cooperation among the private sector of the SAARC countries,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

A spokesperson for President Mohamed Nasheed, who in 2008 successfully unseated Gayoom after 30 years in power during the country’s first ever democratic general elections, was not available for comment at the time of going to press on the visit.

Gayoom retired from active politics in early 2010, appointing  MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali as leader of the country’s main opposition party.

The former president remains a divisive figure in Maldivian life and politics following 30 years of autocratic rule that has inspired fierce support and criticism in equal measure depending  on individual political persuasion in the country.

However, MP DRP Ahmed Mahlouf, who along with Gayoom has been linked to the factional Z-DRP movement that now opposes incumbent party leader Thasmeen, said the former president remained a popular figure among SAARC member states for his work in the field of regional development.

“He has done a lot for the region and I wouldn’t be surprised if SAARC leaders praise him for his efforts,” he said.

Despite his reputation, Mahlouf said that the visit to Bangladesh should not be seen as an indication that Gayoom would run for president in 2013, adding that the former president had shown no interest to change his mind on retiring from front line politics.

“[Gayoom] has not really been commenting much on the current government despite concerns he has.  Right now he is working to try his best and solve disputes within the DRP, something Thasmeen is trying to prevent,” he claimed.

“I would like to see him form a new party under his own image.”

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Foreign investors need “one-stop shop” to navigate Maldives bureaucracy: MNCCI

Local trade authorities must do more to simplify foreign investment procedures in the country as they attempt to increase income of dollar revenue, the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) has claimed.

Ahmed Adheeb, an MNCCI member and Chief Operating Officer of the Millennium Capital Management (MCM) investment group, said he believed the country was failing to follow in the footsteps of markets like Sri Lanka by establishing a board of investment to help foreign companies navigate the complexities of local business culture.

“In order for the Maldives to build investor confidence I believe that firstly we need a board of investment like they have in Sri Lanka,” he said. “The Maldives has many different ministries that must be navigated to get licenses [to operate businesses]. We need a one-stop shop [for foreign business] if we are to bring international investors into different areas.”

Adheeb’s comments were made after members of the MNCCI recently met with their Pakistani counterparts in Male’ to discuss business and investment opportunities across the Maldives. Although no specific areas of interest for local investment were raised as yet during the meetings, Adheeb claimed that recommendations were made regarding potential opportunities for putting money into smaller and medium size tourism developments like guesthouses and safari boats.

The MNCCI said that it also acknowledged requests from the Pakistani representatives to host a single country forum here in Maldives to promote bringing certain food and pharmaceutical products to local markets.

With growing fears over the lack US dollars currently being circulated in the Maldives, generating additional foreign currency revenues has been identified as a key part of the government’s economic stabilisation strategy.

While calling for simplified investment procedures for businesses coming to the Maldives, Adheeb claimed that he hoped to see protection measures for local small and medium enterprises in the country.   One such example was in potentially setting caps on the minimum size of investments that could be made by foreign parties in the country.

“We should try to ensure that we are not endangering existing local small and medium enterprises,” he added.

However, amidst ongoing attempts by the government to try and devalue the rufiya to try and stabilise the Maldivian economy – under pressure from bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – Economic Development Minister Mahmoud Razee claimed that recent financial uncertainties has not significantly impacted potential foreign investment in the Maldives.

“Generally the interest is still there. In the development of Hanimaadhoo for example we have seen 19 groups expressing interest in the project. Ten of these [parties] were foreign investors,” he said.

Razee claimed that he did not believe that recent financial upheaval in the country including fears over a shortage of US dollars finding their way into the local economy had not led to cases of “specific hesitation” from enterprises looking to invest in the country.

“Obviously [the country’s finances] are something investors will be looking into, but we believe this is not a significant setback as a result,” he added.

Razee said that the government had expressed interest in working with foreign business to develop national agriculture and aquaculture, as well as transport infrastructure.

President Mohamed Nasheed had stated last year that private sector investment was expected to bring US$1 billion to the local economy between 2010 and 2013.

However, aside from issues of financial stability, a former Australian Supreme Court Justice who spent several weeks in the Maldives this year analysing the functioning and impartiality of the country’s judiciary said that he believed legal reform had a key impact on economic performance.

After reporting that the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) – designed to serve as a legal watchdog – was compromising its accountability and obstructing the creation of an independent judiciary, Murray Kellam claimed that an impartial judicial system was a key factor in encouraging foreign investment.

Kellam said that Singapore was a perfect example of the long-term financial transformations possible with focused and impartial legal reform.

“[Singapore] understood the value of a civil system that is incorruptible and competent. They spent a lot of money on their judiciary and Transparency International now rates their civil legal system as one of the best in the world,” he told Minivan News in March this year.

“Singapore realised that one of the best ways to attract investment was to have a system whereby international investors knew they would get a fair go in domestic courts. If you look at the circumstances in other parts of the world where investors have no confidence in the judiciary, that deters investment and takes it offshore. They’ll go somewhere else.”

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Economy requires structural changes to address foreign currency crisis, Finance Minister tells parliament

Finance Minister Ahmed Inaz has told parliament that addressing the foreign currency crisis will require structural changes to the economy.

Increasing revenue and reducing expenditure to address the deficit – a legacy of years of printing money and high state expenditure relative to income – was the main solution, he said, as was strengthening regulations and enforcing the use of rufiya as a legal tender, “with no exception.”

The country’s lucrative tourism industry currently charges visitors in US dollars rather than the local rufiya currency, while the central bank’s regulation enforcing the use of legal tender has historically been routinely ignored and rarely enforced.

The rufiya was identified this week by financial news agency Bloomberg as the world’s second worst performing currency after the Suriname dollar,

“The Maldives was caught by the news,” Inaz noted to Minivan News. “It’s unlikely they would have any data on the rufiya before [the devaluation] on April 10.”

The state received US$16 in January, US$19 million in February, US$29 million in March, US$15 million in April and US$23 million in May – a total of US$115 million for the year so far, Inaz told parliament.

The government has indicated to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it intends to pass a raft of new taxation and economic reforms through parliament to modernise the economy, and a package of bills has been submitted by the government.

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Maldivians and expatriates arrested in human trafficking crackdown

Police have arrested a group of Maldivians and expatriates who allegedly attempted to traffic expatriate workers to the Maldives using forged documents.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that a  group was caught but declined to reveal further information, citing a larger investigation.

”Currently police are conducting a major investigation into the Immigration Department and in this case there might be information concerning the investigation,” Shiyam said. ”We will provide details to the press as soon as the investigations are concluded.”

President Mohamed Nasheed this week instructed the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) to temporarily take over the work of both the Immigration Department and elements of the Human Resources Ministry.

MNDF officers are currently staffing the immigration desks, in an effort to isolate the loopholes in the department that the government has alleged are being used to traffic expatriate workers.

Immigration staff have been asked to stay at home until further notice from the President’s Office.

Controller of Immigration Abdulla Shahid told newspaper Haveeru that illegal expatriate workers were costing the government Rf130 million (US$8.4 million) in lost visa fees.

“The investigations include determining whether foreigners have entered into the country illegally, whether people have entered into the country using forged travel documents, and whether the IT systems have been tricked or not,” Haveeru reported Shahid as saying.

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Bank turns to courts over judge’s alleged loan repayment failure

The Bank of Maldives has reportedly turned to the country’s Civil Court in a bid to reclaim Rf2.5 million it alleges was loaned to High Court Judge Abbas Shareef and his father but never paid back.

Haveeru has reported that lawyer Hussein Siraj, who will be representing BML during the trial, claimed at a hearing today that the judge had signed as a guarantor for a Rf 2.5million loan taken out in 2008 for his father Ali Shareef. The bank is now seeking Rf2.6 million in repayments from the original loan within a single transaction.

According to the news report, BML’s lawyer told the court that the finance group sought to sell a mortgaged boat, said to be owned by Judge Shareef and his father, if the requested payment could not be met in a single monetary transaction. Siraj requested that the defendants should also bare the brunt of any charges relating to the sale of the vessel.

Haveeru claimed that the trial is ongoing, though presiding Judge Abdulla Ali is reportedly yet to set a date to reconvene the case following the conclusion of today’s hearing.

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